Rieger Orgelbau
2017

Database Manager on June 22nd, 2018:
Updated by Antony Melck, representative of the builder.<br> The instrument is divided into the Chancel Organ and the Gallery Organ. Most of the stops of the Chancel and Gallery Swell divisions, and those of the Gallery Choir division, each have 73 pipes for use with the octave couplers.<br>After being bought by Mr Hu Youyi, the organ was moved from Boston, USA, to Gulangyu, China, by Wakeley Pipe Organs, Australia, in 2007; and fully restored by Rieger Orgelbau, Austria, in 2017/8. <br>The two sections of the organ (Chancel and Gallery organs) are positioned at either end of a new, custom-made, hall to simulate the relationship that existed between the organ's sections in the Emmanuel Church, Boston. Both sections have their original facades which have been fully restored with the rest of the organ, including the re-carving of lost sections of the intricate Gallery organ case. The restored console is now on a mobile platform that can be positioned anywhere between the two cases. All the original (thumb and toe) pistons and the accompanying pneumatic system of the console have been retained, but can also be operated by the digital combination system, REA, made by Rieger Orgelbau. This includes a sequencer and playback facility. A keypad for programming the Rieger system is mounted separately on a pedestal next to the organ bench. <br>Thirty-two stops come from the Hutchings instrument; ten stops, that were missing (or replaced with neo-baroque stops in the mid 20th century) have been remade anew by Rieger according to the original specification. <br>The windchests of the organ are original, excluding three off-note chests that were lost when their stops were replaced in the mid 20th century, and which were remade by Rieger. The electrical system and cabling activating the pneumatic chests have been replaced. However, the original electro-pneumatic parts have been retained and stored in the Museum. <br>Following the restoration by Rieger, the organ is once again fully functional as a concert instrument. The restored Gallery organ was inaugurated on 17 December 2017, with Alcee Chriss (USA) as main organist; the complete organ (Chancel and Gallery) was inaugurated on 23 March 2018 with Olivier Latry (France) as organist.

---

Database Manager on March 26th, 2018:
Updated by Douglas P Wilson<br> XIAMEN, March 24 2018 (Xinhua)--- Olivier Latry, chief organist at Notre-Dame de Paris, held a recital Friday evening on Gulangyu Island in east China's Fujian Province.

---

Database Manager on October 19th, 2009:
Identified through online information from James R. Stettner. -- The organ was originally designed by Lynnwood Farnam and built for Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston, Massachusetts. It was for sale through the Organ Clearing House in 2004. The organ (along with a Norman & Beard from England) was purchased by piano collector Hu Youyin. The Casavant was shipped in 2007, and relocated to Gulangyu Island in China where it resides in an organ museum - the former villa of a wealthy Chinese merchant.